Is Dying a Human Right?

By Jessica Firger, Everyday Health Staff Writer

Assisted suicide is illegal in all but two states in America. A new PBS 'Frontline' documentary examines this hot button issue, and how many terminally ill patients have gone underground and are taking death into their own hands.

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FRIDAY, Nov. 16, 2012
— Immediately dispose of all empty medication
bottles, equipment, and all instructional literature. Discourage unexpected
visitor. Don't schedule the death on a day when a hospice nurse will be
present, and to keep quiet. "Discuss the plan to hasten with as
few people as possible, and only those you trust to be supportive and capable
of keeping it confidential," read the manual.

Kathleen
Coulter's mother, Joan, was in the final stages of terminal
lung cancer, when she made the decision to set in motion plans to
expedite her death. She ordered end-of-life medication from an underground
company over the phone. The company provided her with a list of drugs that
explained the purpose for each one.

"I checked off
exactly what I needed, and it came in the mail. That was a big
surprise, I couldn't imagine that this is available, but it is," said Joan
during an interview in The Suicide Plan, a
newFrontline documentary, that
aired on PBS on Nov. 13. The film, looks at the moral, political, and legal
implications of assisted-suicide, as well as the nascent right-to-die
movement.

To carryout her death, Joan needed to
take around 60 pills in the span of 15 minutes. Her pill order included, not
only the lethal drugs, but also anti-anxiety medications, as well as ones for
nausea since the large quantity of medication was likely to upset her stomach.

When the medications arrived in the mail, they
were accompanied by a detailed handbook: "The specific procedures you have
received consists of detailed step-by-step directions. To ensure success, it
is vital that you follow the steps in
the exact order and not deviate in any
way. It is also important to plan for the entire day that the hastening is
scheduled to occur."

The manual offered suggestions for
how to report the passing of your loved one: "You could simply say 'He was
napping and I didn't want to disturb him, but I don't think he's breathing.'
Or, 'She had a difficult night, so I let her skip breakfast, but now I can't get
her to wake up."

Coulter must be cautious not to touch
anything, she must only stand by to support her mother. Otherwise she'll be
legally implicated in her mother's death.

"After
she's done it, I'm sure there won't be an autopsy or anything because she
is terminal
with lung cancer. If she slips into a coma and dies, everyone will think
it was just her cancer and the natural causes that did it."

A contentious issue

The
notion that death ought to be a choice begs many questions. How do we determine
which patients should be given this right? Who should be permitted to
assist someone
in their own death? What exactly does it mean to help an individual
carry out their death?

Ever since Dr. Jack Kevorkian was
arrested and successfully convicted in 1999 for assisting in the
deaths of more than 100 severely and terminally ill patients, assisted suicide
has become a contentious issues in the United States — one
supporters say is largely misunderstood.

Oregon and Washington are
the only states that allow a physician to help a terminally
ill patient expedite their death. Since the early
1990s, California, Michigan, Maine, and most recently, Massachusetts,
have tried — and failed — to legalize
assisted suicide. And many states have passed laws that make it criminal to
help a terminally-ill individual commit suicide.

Some
say dying is a civil right

The
film which aired just days before International Survivors of Suicide
Day, delves into the inner workings of this underground movement that's build
upon the idea that dying is a civil right.

The
Final Exit Network is one organization at the forefront of the right-to-die
movement. The network assists only
mentally component individuals who say their suffering
is more than they could be bear. However, the person need not be
terminally-ill.

"We feel this is an individual rights
issue," explains Robert Rivas, a volunteer legal counselor for the
organization. "That they should have the right to determine how
they live and how they die. And we believe at the heart of our
mission no person should die alone."

The 3,000
volunteers gather once a year to discuss
their origination's protocols. A vast majority of volunteers
are old and have had some type of near death experience, said Rivas. To remain
on "the right side of the law," volunteers must be cautious
not to actively participate in the event in any way. "'Don't touch
anything' is the rule," said Rivas.

These "exit guides," as they are called,
have witnessed hundreds deaths. All suicides are carried out by helium
inhalation, which they say is painless, quick, and 100
percent effective. Through this suicide method, helium displaces
oxygen causing asphyxiation.

"I look at death
as being a part of life, and it's going to come to everybody," said one
exit guide, Rosalie Guttman. "This person is very fortunate to be in a
position of making a decision about how and when and under what circumstances
it's going to happen to them."

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